Device for channeling the flow of gases in the throat of a chimney and for regulating the draught

ABSTRACT

A device for channeling the flow of gases in the throat of a chimney and for regulating the draught, said device comprising a removable assembly of five metallic plates forming a right-angle triangular prism, the face corresponding to one of the sides of said right-angle having substantially the same section as the smoke flue, arranged horizontally and vertically below this latter and turned towards the latter in the installed position, a horizontal slot of the same length as the hypotenuse of said right-angle being formed between said first-mentioned face and the face corresponding to said hypotenuse, a sixth metallic plate serving as a damper and provided with a rack-bar hooked in each position of regulation, and means for sliding said sixth plate along the hypotenuse face. The said assembly of six metallic plates may be made from ordinary sheet steel.

United States Patent [191 Richard Apr. 9, 1974 [75] Inventor: Gilbert Gerard Richard, Yerres,

France [73] Assignee: Cheminees Richard Le Droff S.A.,

Yerres, France [22] Filed: Oct. 20, 1972 [21] Appl, No.: 299,325

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 5, 1971' France 71.39892 [52] US. Cl. 126/120, 126/288 [51] Int. Cl. F231 11/00 [58] Field of Search 126/120, 121,288

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 485,772 ll/l892 Peel 126/288 1,067,203 7/1913 Strasburg et al 126/288 1,080,777 12/1913 Podmore .L 126/288 3,094,114 6/1963 Cage 126/288 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 457,218 ll/l936 Great Britain 126/120 Primary ExaminerWilliam F. ODea Assistant ExaminerPeter D, Ferguson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brisebois & Kruger 5 7] ABSTRACT A device for channeling the flow of gases in the throat of a chimney and for regulating the draught, said device comprising a removable assembly of five metallic plates forming a right-angle triangular prism, the face corresponding to one of the sides of said right-angle having substantially the same section as the smoke flue, arranged horizontally and vertically below this latter and turned towards the latter in the installed position, a horizontal slot of the same length as the hypotenuse of said right-angle being formed between said first-mentioned face and the face corresponding to said hypotenuse, a sixth metallic plate serving as a damper and provided with a rack-bar hooked in each position of regulation, and means for sliding said sixth plate along the hypotenuse face. The said assembly of six metallic plates may be made from ordinary sheet steel.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 91914 FIG PRIOR ART FIG-5- DEVICE FOR' CHANNELING THE FLOW OF GASES IN THE THROAT OF A CHIMNEY AND FOR REGULATING THE DRAUGHT The present invention relates to a device for conducting a flow of gas in the throat of a chimney and the regulation of the draught.

In old houses, more particularly in the country, and also in modern flats or houses, and in this latter case so as to ensure simultaneously elegance and harmony in the arrangement of a room, for example a living-room, and in order to create agreeable surroundings, chimneys are employed as one of the domestic heating elements.

In these chimneys, a satisfactory draught can only be obtained by providing in the chimney throat an obstacle serving to channel the flow of gas and having a horiis approximately that of a triangular prism with a rightangle triangular section, one of the sides of the rightangle being horizontal and having a more or less con cave profile and being turned upwards, that is to say towards the flue, and the hypotenuse of which plays the part of a deflector which sends the gas and smoke in the direction of the counter-base. The horizontal side forms a kind of shelf or sill, incurved in a hollow, which stops the downward flow of cold air and enables it to mix with the hot flow of air generated by the fire and which sends it into the flue.

In the majority of present-day constructions, the said obstacle serving to direct the gases and smoke is simply formed by a forwardly projecting masonry wall of the vertical back of the chimney,.and it is therefore fixed and rigidly secured to this latter, which presents a number of disadvantages.

In the first place, the installation of the section of masonry with a triangular profile is a relatively expensive operation, since it is'essential that the masonry should be built in such manner as to carry this weight, which is fairly heavy (of cast cement for example) and is in an overhung position.

On the other hand, when the installation is once built in this conventional manner, it is a fixed installation and its profile cannot be modified if, due to conditions of exposure, of prevailing winds, climate, etc., this profile finally proves to be unsuitable and causes for exam ple draught difficulties.

Finally, since it projects into the chimney throat, the conduit element for the gases and smoke complicates sweeping and the elimination of caked soot and other debris detached from the flue, either by this operation itself or during the Summer season when the chimney is not in use and when humidity may cause such crusts to be spontaneously detached from the walls on which they are progressively formed. The accumulation of this soot and in some cases of debris coming from the flue in the upper part of the conduit fills the elongated bowl formed by the deliberately incurved profile, which can then no longer carry out the function for which it is intended, this profile being substantially modified, which leads to the necessity of periodical and relatively frequent and awkward cleaning operations.

The invention provides a remedy, in a particularly simple and economical manner, for the drawbacks indicated above, and at the same time enables the draught of the chimney to be regulated.

The new device according to the invention, for the canalization of the flow of gas in the throat of a chimney and the regulation of the draught, is essentially characterized in that it comprises a removable assembly of five metal plates forming a right-angle triangular prism, the face corresponding to one of the sides of the right-angle being substantially of the same section as the flue, arranged horizontally and vertically below this latter and turned towards it in the installed position, forming between this face and the corresponding face to the hypotenuse, a horizontal slot of the same length in which can slide, along the hypotenuse face, a sixth metal plate serving as a damper and provided with a hooking device in each position of adjustment.

The invention will be more clearly understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a vertical section of the profile of a chimney of known type, in which the deflector is of masonry while the damper is mounted separately, facing the lip of the deflector;

FIG. 2 shows a vertical section of the profile of a chimney, in which the chimney throat is provided with a device according to the invention;

FIG. 3 represents a perspective view'of a device corresponding to a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, the general profile of the throat being shown in broken lines;

FIG. 4 represents a front view of the damper and the rack of a device according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows the sametwo parts as in FIG. 4, shown this time in profile, and in the direction of the sliding movement of the damper.

There can be seen from FIG. 1 the profile in vertical section of a chimney with a deflector of known type. The intakes of cold air are indicated by arrows in full lines, while the path of the hot gases and smoke is indicated by arrows in broken lines. The damper l is controlled by a rod 2 fitted with a handle; it is pivotally mounted on a shaft and, in the position of closure, it is applied against the lip 3 of the block of masonry 4. This latter forms a deflector both for the upwardly moving hot gases and smoke and for the cold air moving downwards along the flue 5.

In the form of embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the cold air, the hot gases and the smoke respectively follow paths similar to those of the previous case, as shown by the arrangement of the arrows. The device according to the invention is also'provided at the level of the throat 6. It is constituted by five metal plates, for example of ordinary sheet steel, which are assembled to gether in such manner as to form a body having the general shape of a right-angle triangular prism. Its upper face 7 is substantially horizontal and corresponds to a small side of the right angle; it is however slightly inclined downwards in the vicinity of the bottom of the chimney.

The inclined face 8 of the device (hypotenuse) parallel to the damper 9 held in position by slides (not shown) carried on the outside a tenon l0 intended to act in combination with one of the notches in the rack 11 to support the damper 9 articulated on this rack by a pivot 12. The deflector-damper assembly is hooked on the wall of the chimney back in a removable manner by at least two lugs 13 passing into holes formed in this wall. The damper 9 can slide along the inclined face 8 in order to reduce or even completely close the evacuation orifice 14.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, in which the damper 9 is shown in the closed position, the rack 11 is elbowed at its lower portion in order to facilitate handling, and a doubled-back lug l prevents it from moving substantially away from the vertical position during each operation of the damper 9.

Details of construction of the damper 9 and the rack 11 pivoting on each other by the pivot 12, are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. There will particularly be noted the slides 16, 17 and 18 formed on the damper 9 by steel sheets bent back to a U-section and welded, and which are intended to co-operate with corresponding guides welded on the inner face of the plate corresponding to the hypotenuse of the right-angle section of the prism.

As can be seen especially from FIG. 3, the two plates corresponding to the bases of the prism are inclined parallel to the slope of the two side walls of the throat and in the top position, the emergent part of the damper 9 forms an isoceles trapezium, the equal sides of which are inclined in such manner as to follow the internal profile of the canopy at the level of the chimney throat.

The device according to the invention being, as can readily be seen, easily removed, it becomes possible to carry out periodic sweeping of the chimney with the utmost ease, since it is only necessary, during this operation, to remove and replace it in position as soon as the work is finished. Of particularly simple construction and operation, it may advantageously be made from ordinary sheet steel.

lt will of course be understood that the invention is not in any way restricted to the single form of embodiment described above and illustrated, which has been given only by way of example.

What I claim is:

1. A deflector for chanelling both the upwardly moving hot gases and the downwardly moving cold air in the throat of a fireplace said deflector comprising a substantially triangular hollow prism having three sides and two ends which are substantially right triangles having a hypotenuse opposite a right vertex angle, with the hypotenuses of said triangles connected by one of said sides, at least two sides of said prism being substantially imperforate so as to permanently inhibit the flow of air through said prism,

and

a damper plate mounted for sliding movement in a plane parallel and adjacent to said one side between a closed position in which said damper plate projects outwardly beyond the edge of said one side and an open position in which said damper plate is substantially completely overlapped by said one side.

2. A deflector as claimed in claim 1 in which a side of said prism is provided with a slot parallel to said one side and said damper plate is mounted to slide in said slot, said deflector being provided with means outside said prism for retaining said damper plate in any of a plurality of positions relative to said one side.

3. ln a fireplace located under an exhaust flue and having a back wall, two side walls, and a canopy, said walls and canopy defining a throat, the improvement which comprises a deflector positioned in said throat, said deflector comprising a substantially triangular hollow prism having one side extending along said backwall and two other sides extending transversely across said chimney from one side wall to the other, with the ends of said prism forming substantially right triangles, each having a hypotenuse opposite a right vertex angle, and with the hypotenuses of said triangles connected by an inclined one of said transverse sides while the other transverse side extends substantially horizontally above said inclined side, at least two of said prism sides being substantially imperforate so as to permanently inhibit the flow of air through said prism, and

a damper plate mounted for sliding movement in a plane parallel and adjacent to said inclined side between a closed position in which it projects past one edge of said inclined side to said canopy and an open position in which said damper plate is substantially completely overlapped by said inclined side.

4. A fireplace as claimed in claim 3 in which said two sidewalls slope inwardly and said damper plate has a trapezoidal portion the edges of which abut against said sidewalls and canopy when said damper plate is in said closed position.

5. A fireplace as claimed in claim 3 in which said horizontal side is provided with a slot parallel to said inclined side and said damper plate is mounted to slide in said slot, said deflector being provided with means outside said prism for retaining said damper plate in any one of a plurality of positions relative to said inclined side. 

1. A deflector for chanelling both the upwardly moving hot gases and the downwardly moving cold air in the throat of a fireplace said deflector comprising a substantially triangular hollow prism having three sides and two ends which are substantially right triangles having a hypotenuse opposite a right vertex angle, with the hypotenuses of said triangles connected by one of said sides, at least two sides of said prism being substantially imperforate so as to permanently inhibit the flow of air through said prism, and a damper plate mounted for sliding movement in a plane parallel and adjacent to said one side between a closed position in which said damper plate projects outwardly beyond the edge of said one side and an open position in which said damper plate is substantially completely overlapped by said one side.
 2. A deflector as claimed in claim 1 in which a side of said prism is provided with a slot parallel to said one side and said damper plate is mounted to slide in said slot, said deflector being provided with means outside said prism for retaining said damper plate in any of a plurality of positions relative to said one side.
 3. In a fireplace located under an exhaust flue and having a back wall, two side walls, and a canopy, said walls and canopy defining a throat, the improvement which comprises a deflector positioned in said throat, said deflector comprising a substantially triangular hollow prism having one side extending along said backwall and two other sides extending transversely across said chimney from one side wall to the other, with the ends of said prism forming substantially right triangles, each having a hypotenuse opposite a right vertex angle, and with the hypotenuses of said triangles connected by an inclined one of said transverse sides while the other transverse side extends substantially horizontally above said inclined side, at least two of said prism sides being substantially imperforate so as to permanently inhibit the flow of air through said prism, and a damper plate mounted for sliding movement in a plane parallel and adjacent to said inclined side between a closed position in which it projects past one edge of said inclined side to said canopy and an open position in which said damper plate is substantially completely overlapped by said inclined side.
 4. A fireplace as claimed in claim 3 in which said two sidewalls slope inwardly and said damper plate has a trapezoidal portion the edges of which abut against said sidewalls and canopy when said damper plate is in said closed position.
 5. A fireplace as claimed in claim 3 in which said horizontal side is provided with a slot parallel to said inclined side and said damper plate is mounted to slide in said slot, said deflector being provided with means outside said prism for retaining said damper plate in any one of a plurality of positions relative to said inclined side. 